"This is a good test for us," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. "It's a quality hockey team. We look at this, it's a window. We want to play at home, we want to be here and get things going in the right direction. Nothing better than a good, stiff challenge like Boston."

Pacioretty left the Canadiens' 3-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday in the first period with a lower-body injury. He had to be helped off the ice and was unable to put weight on his left leg.

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said the team still was awaiting the results of an MRI taken Wednesday night amid rampant speculation in Montreal about the severity of Pacioretty’s injury. When he said the team did not have the results of the MRI as of early Thursday afternoon, a few reporters chuckled.

"What are you laughing at? We don't know yet," Therrien said. "I'm as eager to know as you are. Maybe even a little more eager than you are."

PHILADELPHIA -- One can look at the Philadelphia Flyers and their 1-6-0 record and come to the conclusion that they're playing poorly and the record reflects that. Someone else can look at the Flyers, see that they blew a third-period lead and lost to the Vancouver Canucks two nights ago and think they are primed for a breakout.

Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma falls into the latter category. He isn't preparing to face a struggling team Thursday at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US); he's expecting to face a dangerous one that played better in a loss Saturday at the Detroit Red Wings and nearly beat the Canucks on Tuesday.

"I don't look at the Flyers' record as an indication of the quality of opponent or what we're going to see [Thursday] at all," Bylsma said. "They do have some injuries, but they have key players in, good players in, a special teams that is good and dangerous with what they bring. That's what we expect from them. Especially early on in the season, when you get off to a 1-3, 1-4, whatever it is, the limelight is on you but I still think they're a very good team and that's what we're focused on, not what their record is."

St. Louis was hit in the foot by a shot while killing a penalty during the Lightning's 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, and while tests have not shown any fracture, his status for the game is up in the air.

"Let's get this out of the way -- Marty is a game-time decision," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We will see what happens over the next few hours but he's an option to play. I don't want someone in there who may be apprehensive and not the Marty we are used to seeing. But we'll find out at game time."

"I'm not going to go back on the trade now, it's been like over a year and a half," Hodgson said ahead of the Canucks' visit to Buffalo on Thursday. "I'm happy here, I feel great as a Buffalo Sabre and I'm happy I'm going to be here the next six years."

Kassian started the season with a suspension from a high-sticking incident in the preseason. He said coming back to Buffalo is a positive thing for him.

"It'll be good. It'll be fun," Kassian said. "I'll have a lot of friends and family here so I'm looking forward to it."

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers are 1-6-0, and while captain Claude Giroux knows his team hasn't been great, he can't quite figure out why they haven't been able to win more games since Craig Berube took over as coach 10 days ago.

Giroux said it reminds him of another time when the Flyers were struggling for results yet confident in how they were playing.

"What's going on right now makes me think of when we played Boston in the [2010 Stanley Cup] Playoffs," Giroux said, referring to the series against the Bruins three years ago. "We were down 3-0 [in the series] but we were talking to ourselves and were like, 'How the [heck] are we down 3-0? We should be up 3-0.' We just stayed with it and came back to win the series.

"You know, it's a long season. If you think about it we still have 75 games left. That's a lot of games."

It's Wednesday Night Rivalry on NBCSN as the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals square off, and NHL Live will preview this Metropolitan Division matchup at 5 p.m. Eastern on NHL Network. We'll go to Verizon Center and talk to NBCSN's Pierre McGuire, who will be "Inside the Glass" for the game.

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft